Extant 2×9 Review: The Other Side

This week’s episode of Extant gave rise to a new big bad and had the main characters come to one place to defend against the hybrid threat. It also had some great character development moments for Molly and Julie.

Scenes that focus on the development of female characters as the plot progresses are always a good thing in my book. In a lot of TV shows, women start off as romantic interests for men, a trophy to be won by the hero, and have little to no character development whatsoever. One of the things that kept me interested in Extant was how the writers treated the main female characters.

I have enjoyed getting to know more about Molly Woods (Halle Berry) this season. After being infected by the hybrid killing virus, Molly went into a dreamlike state, and that’s where we got to know about her relationship with her father and why she lost her mind after knowing John cheated on her with Julie (Grace Gummer).

Molly is a character who experienced a lot of pain way before the alien threat came into her life. Her father used to take her to the carnival so he could hookup with their next door neighbor. It was during one of those nights when Molly saw her father receive a call that her mother died in a car accident. Years later Molly lost her boyfriend and unborn child in a car accident as well. Fate again dealt her a bad hand when she lost her husband in a car accident right after she got to know he had cheated. So, I can’t blame Molly for losing her mind and setting the house on fire.

She also accepted that she wasn’t the best wife and mother during a video log she made for Ethan (Pierce Gagnon) on her deathbed. I understood that loving and being close to someone didn’t come easy to her because of what she had experienced in her life. It’s clear that at the back of her mind she always has the fear of losing the people she loves.

There was something about the dream world Molly was in that felt like the fairy world shown in True Blood. Molly met a lot of important people in her life there and in the end her father told her to forgive herself and others if she wanted to move on.

The whole scene played out as if she was dying and her heartbeat did fall flat in the real world, but we all know Molly isn’t dead because we aren’t watching Game of Thrones. I think she’s evolving and will be back more powerful than before in the next episode.

Coming to the other female character of the show, Julie started the waterworks in front of an unconscious Molly. She accepted her mistakes and decided to set things right. She even told Charlie to start disassembling the Humanichs even if it meant she would go to prison. I liked her new-found determination to do the right thing and want that to continue. Please don’t kill her character off just for the sake of it. She’s intelligent, loves Ethan, and could do a lot of good in the future.

The men, Tobias Shepard and JD Richter, bonded over scotch. We saw Tobias feeling uncertain about his loyalties. I think deciding the fate of the world has really messed up his moral compass and I liked JD calling him out on the choices he made.

While I liked JD (Jeffery Dean Morgan) being a part of Extant, I’m uncertain about how the writers plan on keeping him with Molly once the current threat is over. My theory is that John’s murder will move onto a third season. This will keep JD in the show especially after they revealed a new character responsible for John’s death.

The bad alien hybrids, or Molly’s very good-looking grandchildren, executed their plan to attack the humans. I liked their decision to fight fire with fire. Tobias ordered the release of a hybrid killing virus on their home and they decided to take the same route by releasing a human killing virus. Bioterrorism is scary but I appreciate Extant using it because it seems like the most logical thing to do during wars fought in the future.

Quote of the Week:

“It seems to me it’s not about what you see. It’s what you do about what you see.” – JD Richter

Extant remained steady in the ratings race this week.

What did you think of Extant this week? Were you surprised to see Terra evolving into a young alien hybrid? Will the Humanich’s be able to defeat the aliens or will they turn on the humans first? What changes will Molly go through when she returns? Let us know!

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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